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Hunter Shoots Elk from 875 Yards with .308

Posted by John McAdams

Would you have taken this kind of shot on a cow elk?

On the second day of their hunt, these guys noticed a herd of elk feeding on a hillside two canyons away. After observing the herd for a little bit, the hunter selected a yearling cow out of the herd to shoot.

He passed on the larger cows because he knew they would have a heck of a hike to get the meat out of the woods afterwards. In any case, they settled in, and he squeezed off his shot, which resulted in an 875-yard elk kill.

Check out the video and see what you think of the whole deal.

You can skip ahead to about the three-minute mark to see them when they first get into elk.

First off, congratulations to the hunter for making such a nice shot. Taking a shot at that range is far beyond my skill as a shooter, so I have the utmost respect for his shooting abilities.

The hunter was using a custom Remington Model 700 chambered in .308 Winchester using 168gr Berger VLD bullets, which is a great combination for long range shooting. The rifle was topped with a Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50mm scope. He was also using a Leupold Rx-1000i Rangefinder, which is one of the best rangefinders out there. Clearly, he was using top-notch equipment, and he really looked like he knew what he was doing.

While the elk immediately dropped at the shot, that sort of reaction from the animal indicates a hit to the brain or spine. If you look closely, it looks like his shot hits really high on the elk’s shoulder, likely hitting the top of the lungs and the spine. Something tells me that’s not where he was aiming.

What do you think? Would you have taken that shot if you had been in his shoes?